Friday, October 8, 2010

SP9 - Ouellet commenting on Disclosure

Demanding the disclosure of what does not exist is, in itself, an interesting anomaly about an anomaly (i.e., the UFO phenomenon). The (il)logic of disclosure has its own internal dynamics woven into the collective psyche of the nuts-and-bolts ufologists. To paraphrase Isaac Asimov, the disclosure movement is the last refuge of the ETH ufologists’ incompetence. Early on in the history of ufology, the door was open to find an exit from seriously pondering about this difficult and elusive anomaly called UFO; the government knows everything, so let’s pressure them to reveal everything. But who would admit in ufology that disclosure is an exit strategy?

Then, disclosure did happen. In spite of what many people may say, the disclosure of the largest UFO database in the 1970s, called Project Bluebook, provided a lot of useful information, and people like Hynek made good use of it. Since, other countries like Belgium, Canada, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom have done the same, providing a wealth of information. Interestingly, all these countries, including the United States, came more or less to the same conclusion: there is a small minority of UFO reports that are not explainable, but these do not represent a threat to national security and no useful technological advances can be found. These multinational conclusions are in line with the “nil” return of 65 years of ETH ufology. As public agencies are not mystery investigation organizations, it is not their business to spend public funds on researching anomalies. But who would admit in ufology that the governments of the world and ETH ufology produced similar evidence that there is nothing tangible to work with?

The disclosure movement is not only about UFOs, but it is allegedly about truth and democracy. Were the various governments not fully truthful over the years about UFO? Certainly. Did those lies really hid anything of substance? No. Would more of those revealed lies about UFO change anything? Very unlikely. By comparing themselves with those who unveil real horror stories (e.g. Watergate, unlawful medical experiments, various forms of corruption, etc.), the disclosure ufologists hope to look good, but their “stuff” is truly insignificant. Outside the people really involved in ufology, very few care about disclosure because, indeed, it is insignificant. But who would admit in ufology that disclosure is about nothing significant?

Individuation is about becoming a full-fledge individual, with his or her conscious and unconscious mind fully aligned to become totality. Individuation is about becoming aware of what one really believes at the unconscious level, so he or she can stop self-BSing at the conscious level. It means accepting oneself. But individuation is a two-way street, as it also means dealing with dysfunctional unconscious beliefs with the help of the therapist. It is about aligning the inner and outer truth, whatever it may be, to live a fulfilling life. The collective unconscious of ufology is light years away from individuation. If anything, it looks more like a collective neurosis.

Can the UFO phenomenon foster collective individuation, if the attitude is right? The small minority of UFO cases that remain unexplainable should be seen as an opportunity, rather than as a challenge, for collective growth. It encourages us to think much beyond the confine of our taken-for-granted assumptions. Its elusiveness is a constant reminder that short-cuts like “what else could it be but aliens in their spaceships” never work in science as in life in general. If the phenomenon is essentially a grand scale psi event, then it becomes our mirror, an opportunity to face our collective unspoken fears. The phenomenon oftentimes becomes woven into the political structures of our societies, reminding us that some are more equal than others; our societies remain profoundly hierarchical and create its lot of unfairness. The phenomenon does not discriminate, over time, reaching a small tiny fraction of every social classes and continent, reminding us of our common humanity. It calls upon us to be compassionate for those who were profoundly shaken by the experience.

Could we then say that the phenomenon is some sort of mythical process, guiding us towards collective individuation? It is the thesis of some. But for those acquainted with the humanities, this teleological thesis does not fare well when we look at our collective history. In the end, collective individuation is a non-sense. Individuation implies that one, by becoming totality, is not dependent on others to be. Communities, when they become truly totality, are arguably comparable to some healthy pre-modern societies. Large societies aspiring to become totality invariably became totalitarian; hardly a step forward. From all ages there were anomalies giving us opportunities to look at ourselves in a different way. Some societies, some generations chose to ignore them, others gave them heterogeneous interpretations (i.e., these must be the work of the gods), rarely were these anomalies interpreted in an autonomous way (i.e., about us, by us). These anomalies provide us with a mirror for the present; that’s it. The notion of us “evolving “ towards something (i.e. the teleological thesis) is only a projection of our collective unspoken fears; such teleological belief is in fact a symptom of a lack of individuation.

6 comments:

Thanks for your post, Eric. While I agree totally that these phenomena are something that have a great deal to do with our individuality and 'personal' myths, I think you do modern abudctees and eye witnesses (including Edgar Mitchell, the recent press conference military officials, etc.) a huge disservice by implying that they somehow are victims of a mass scale psi event. If you want to talk about mass scale psi events, what ISN'T a mass scale psi event? The big neurosis to my reading of your response is that you just blithely answer "No" to whether the government is holding onto any major earth-shattering secrets. Do you want to go tell Edgar Mitchell he's a liar?

I agree that the tons of average 'sightings' the government has released files about don't really add up to anything concrete, but that is not to say abduction evidence isn't out there, i.e. the recovered implants of Dr. Leir (see my "Aliens do it up the nose" in the column at right), it's just hard to believe, and no accredited scientist wants to risk being ostracized and/or wrong. What people like Jacques Vallee refuse to see is that the rational science they believe must be radically upgraded, much more clout given to eyewitness testimony and unexplainable evidence, before any of this stuff can be considered 'truth.' I imagine this is hard for many such as yourself to understand. As someone more right brained than left, I'm much better with mystic visions and intuitions than the rigorous math of the left brain types which dominate western science, but that doesn't mean either of us is right, vs. an approach that incorporates both sides rather than just strengthening one and dismissing the other as inconsequential or deluded.

On the personal mythic front you are dead right, but even Carl Jung admitted that much as he'd like to believe otherwise, the evidence, clearly pointed to UFOs being real events with no earthly explanation. When everyone is seeing weird lights in the sky and having scientifically-certified extra-terrestrial probes removed from their necks, you don't need to wait for mainstream science to come along and reuluctantly agree it 'can't explain' in any other way before you know the score, or should know the score. In saying "only a small percentage (of UFOs) can't be explained" you infer that just because they 'can' be explained rationally the rational answer is clearly the true one.

Extra terrestrials must be accepted by each of us a living example of a transcendental personal myth, but they're still real, more so than perhaps even ourselves.

I am fully aware that my views about disclosure and the ETH are not popular in ufology circles, but I won't apologize for them.

What proof does Mitchell (and others) has to give us? What transparent proof of "scientifically-certified extra-terrestrial probes removed from their necks" really exists? Etc, etc., etc... When one starts to dig about these "proofs", they become very murky, at best. If these proofs were so strong, there would be no more debate about the nature of UFOs.

"Extra terrestrials must be accepted by each of us a living example of a transcendental personal myth, but they're still real, more so than perhaps even ourselves." This is a belief statement, something that is only meaningful among believers. I am not one of them.

Eric, What you are suggesting is even more complex than a hypothesis that we are actually being visited by other beings in the universe. That the psyche is producing these 'sightings/experiences' as "our collective unspoken fears" is interesting, but how can you prove your theories? By the non-existent proof of extra-terrestrial evidence? What about photographic evidence? There's plenty of that. Honestly, I want to know the truth whatever it may be, but if our minds are capable of such deception, I wonder how we manage to find any meaning in what we do each day. Lastly, what of those "believers" who don't hold any conscious fear, who embrace the phenomenon, whatever it may be?

Hello Lynn,Good questions. The UFO phenomenon remains unexplained to this day. There are a number of hypotheses that have been proposed to explain it, but it the end none of them has been proven. That's essentially what I am saying. The extra-terrestrial hypothesis (ETH) is held as Truth by people calling for disclosure, and so the "H" of the "ETH" is completely forgotten. Then, there is insidious fallacy in many of ufological narrative which is called "false dilemma". These people present the situation as if there are only two options: either UFO can be explainable through conventional means or they are ET ships. Well, I am sorry but there are other options and possibilities, and I am presenting one of them. Ultimately, we still do not know what is the nature of UFO phenomenon, and many people have a hard time accepting that.For your second question, I am suggesting that the UFO experience, like most human experiences can be seen at different levels, i.e. the individual and the collective. These two levels of reality are inter-related, but cannot be reduced to one another and they still have their own dynamics. Hence, it is conceivable that an individual witness perceives something that is generated by the collective, but has nothing to do with her/him. For instance, someone can find himself or herself in the middle of riot, while she/he has no part in it, and actually does not understand why all these people are engaging in such non-sense.

Thank you for your explanation Eric, I think I understand a little better where you are coming from. It's certainly food for thought. There do appear to be multiple levels of reality, which seem somehow to relate to consciousness (the big question!!). The jury is still out for me on the UFO phen., although my own experiences lead me to believe that there are elements to it that are unexplainable through conventional means. Fantastic to find so much great information on parasociology! It would be nice to see some courses offered in the discipline...are there any?

Parasociology is a very young science, and there is no course on the topic. However, there are courses "kind of" similar in Anthropology of consciousness. You may find some useful information on this website: http://paranthropology.weebly.com/

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